Thanks to a leak that was released over on Reddit, Gearbox is going to be launching a re-release of the Duke Nukem franchise’s most popular outing, Duke Nukem 3D. Dubbed Duke Nukem 3D: World Tour, this new version of the game keeps all of the original game’s content and character models, but improves matters such as the lighting effects. According to the leak, the re-release will also add some new and original content to the game – although nothing has come from Gearbox officially as of yet. The full announcement is likely to come when the countdown finishes next week.

The bulk of the leak comes in the form of screenshots, which can be seen in the gallery below, and certainly backs up the suggestion of new content being on the way. Improvements over the prior release of Duke Nukem 3D, the Megaton Edition, appear to be rather minimal from a graphical standpoint, which may disappoint those that were hoping for a more substantial remake of Duke Nukem 3D. One potential reason for this re-release, then, could be so that Gearbox could expand the availability of Duke Nukem 3D across the current generation of home consoles; after all, the Megaton Edition was only available on PS3, PS Vita, and via the likes of Steam and GOG.

Some fans of Duke Nukem may have already been suspecting that a new release of this classic was on the cards. The Megaton Edition had been removed from online stores, with Gearbox apparently letting its licensing agreement with Devolver Digital wind down. The only real reason that Gearbox would have taken that action would be to then launch a brand new remaster or re-release of the classic FPS.

It certainly seems as though Gearbox has taken a more active interest in the Duke Nukem property since its infamous return with the much-maligned Duke Nukem Forever. The publisher went through a lengthy lawsuit with previous owner 3D Realms and developer Interceptor Entertainment to fight for the rights to the franchise, with Gearbox coming out as the “rightful owner” of Duke Nukem. With that out of the way, it looks like Gearbox could be looking to bring Duke Nukem back once more.

Whether that remains solely through the re-release of previous games, or a more substantial new game on the horizon, remains to be seen. Should Duke Nukem 3D: World Tour prove popular enough, potentially Gearbox could look to create a new game in the series. Until then, though, the official announcement of World Tour should give gamers a better idea of what to expect.

You can check out some of the screenshots below. Look for an announcement this Friday...
[spoiler][/spoiler]

It's an updated re-release of DN3D. It has a new fifth episode with eight levels, a new weapon (the Incinerator), and a new enemy (the Firefly). All of Duke's old lines have been re-recorded by Jon St. John, and some new ones have been added. New music for the fifth episode has been composed by Lee Jackson. You can switch between the old rendering mode and the updated one on the fly. There's multiplayer including deathmatch, bot matches, and co-op, with up to eight players. Coming out next month.

You can check out some gameplay here. Duke's re-recorded clips sound great, but they create a contrast with the remaining poor-quality sound effects. I wonder if those will be updated as well?